


Date Night

by karmarocks



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Sick Keith (Voltron), Sickfic, Sneezing, sneezefic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-18
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2018-12-03 21:36:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11540886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karmarocks/pseuds/karmarocks
Summary: I don't know y'all.





	1. Chapter 1

Keith awoke with a start and glanced at the clock. 7:15. Why did he wake up? He didn’t have anything until… Crap! He was supposed to meet Lance for their date at 7:00! He rose quickly, sucking in a gasp that immediately sent him into a coughing fit. Regaining his breath, he hopped into the shower and made himself look as presentable as he could, racing out of his apartment at 7:20. He would rather look bad than risk Lance thinking Keith was standing him up and blowing his chances with him. Keith had finally worked up the nerve to ask Lance out, and, surprisingly, the taller boy had said yes. Keith had been looking forward to this day for nearly two weeks, as both he and Lance had busy schedules with winter exams rapidly approaching. He snuffled into his wrist before he pulled his helmet on and sped off on his motorcycle towards the café he was to meet Lance in.

Lance sat alone in the quaint café; he was content watching other customers enjoy themselves for the time being, but as time passed, he began to worry that Keith wasn’t going to show. That would be so embarrassing! What if Keith had been playing him the whole time? Was the date just a cruel joke? The thirty-minute mark of no Keith rolled around, and he was beginning to get upset. Right as he was about to text Hunk for comfort, the door opened and in rushed a very concerned and apologetic looking Keith. He was delighted to see that Keith had made it, but a little peeved that he hadn’t even bothered to text him that he was running late.

“I ab so sorry, Ladce. I accidedtally fell asleep add whed I woke up agaid it was 7:15. I got here as quickly as I could.”

Lance’s annoyance vanished as he took in the appearance of the flustered man before him—Keith was deathly pale except for a flush resting high on his cheekbones and his nose, his eyes were glassy, and his hair was wet. Not to mention the obvious congestion in his voice. Lance knew immediately that Keith was ill, but he avoided calling him out on it, maybe he would bring it up at some point on the date and Lance wouldn’t have to force it out of him. Lance knew from being frenemies with Keith throughout college that the shorter man was very stubborn when it came to admitting illness. He watched with thinly veiled concern as Keith removed his coat, walked up to the register, and ordered them both drinks. A girly Frappuccino for Lance and plain black coffee for himself. Lance quickly averted his eyes to stare at his phone as Keith looked back at him for a moment, raising them again when he saw the jerky movements his boyfriend (could he call him that yet?) was making—oh, he was sneezing. That was the deciding factor, Lance was either going to have to force Keith into admitting his illness, or he would have to stealthily care for him throughout their romantic evening together. He decided on the latter, he was always up for a challenge.

Lance launched the first part of his plan into action as soon as Keith came back with their drinks, noting the light shivers that ran through Keith’s form every once in a while.

“Thank you!”

Lance said cheerfully.

“Do probleb.”

Keith replied stuffily, trying to suppress the shivers that coursed through him.

He tried to subtly shrug his coat back on but Lance, much to his dismay, seemed to notice.

“Sorry about the draft, I shouldn’t have sat so close to the door. Do you want to move?”

 “Do, do, it’s fide. I’b dot eved that cold.”

He said, shrugging his coat back off. Lance looked skeptical, but thankfully he went back to drinking his Frappuccino. They made small talk for a while, Keith allowing Lance to do most of the talking, while he desperately tried to mask his seemingly worsening symptoms, and Lance trying to pretend he wasn’t noticing them. After both of them had finished their drinks, Lance decided to put phase two of his plan into action.

“So, I was thinking, I don’t really wanna go out tonight and see that movie. I’m kind of tired, y’know? Maybe we could stay in and watch some television or something?”

Keith tried not to let out a sigh of relief, the last thing he wanted to be doing was muffling his sneezes and coughs in a dark, cold room full of strangers, silently counting the minutes until it would be appropriate to go to the restroom to blow his nose without becoming suspicious.

“Sure, that would be great.”

Lance beamed, making Keith’s heart leap, then the taller man’s face shifted into a playful smirk, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“My place or yours?”

Keith shrugged, kind of hoping Lance would choose his and Hunk’s shared flat over Keith’s small apartment.

“Well I think Hunk and Shay are spending their date night at my place tonight, so do you mind if we go to your place?”

Keith shook his head and smiled, not trusting himself to speak without sneezing.

He led Lance outside to where his motorcycle was parked, realizing he’d forgotten his spare helmet. He tried to subtly disinfect the area around the nose and mouth of the helmet with his sleeve before handing it to Lance. Lance didn’t want Keith to be riding around in the snow with damp hair, but he figured making him stand out in the snow arguing about who was to wear the helmet would be more detrimental to his health, considering Lance knew he would be wearing the helmet in the end. Keith didn’t mess around when it came to the safety of his passengers. As they zipped around the city, Lance could feel every movement Keith made. He could feel his lungs heave with suppressed coughs and sneezes, and he was certain that Keith had a fever. After what seemed like an eternity of Lance feeling concerned for Keith, they pulled up to his apartment complex.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been sitting in my WIPs for forever and I forgot to post it lol. Sorry I suck XD

Keith helped Lance off the motorcycle, ever the gentleman, but Lance was more focused on Keith’s renewed shivering and the heat he could feel rolling off the shorter man in waves as he was pulled from the vehicle, and the glassy eyes and flushed cheeks that smiled warmly at him. Lance allowed himself to be led up the stairs to the door of Keith’s apartment, nearly running into Keith as he stopped abruptly.

“What’s wrong?”

“Umb… Do you bide if I cleand up a little bit before you combe id?”

Keith asked nervously, thinking of the sorry state his apartment was in. Luckily for him, Lance smiled understandingly

“Of course, you weren’t expecting company tonight. I’ll just wait out here.”

“Thadks, Ladce. I shouldd’t be very lodg.”

Lance heard, with concern, the chesty coughs and congested muttering he heard from inside Keith’s apartment as he cleaned up as quickly as he could.

After giving his small living room and kitchen a final once-over, and ensuring that all traces of cold medicine and used tissues were safely out of view, Keith went to retrieve Lance. Lance was shocked at how sparsely decorated Keith’s apartment was. He knew the guy was busy, but he could at least hang a picture or two.

“I’b godda go to the restroob really quickly. Please, bake yourself at hobe.”

And he was off. Lance glanced around the room again, trying not to notice the hacking coughs emanating from the bathroom, or the barely suppressed sneezes.

“H'GhKtssh! H'ghKtsh!” After another short coughing fit, blowing his nose, and then washing his hands thoroughly, Keith emerged to find Lance sitting on the couch comfortably, with his eyes shut, humming softly. Oh, thank goodness, maybe he hadn’t heard any of that. Lance opened his eyes and beamed up at the flushed man, “so, what do you want to watch?”

“Whatever you wadt to watch, I guess.” Keith settled down towards the other side of the couch, the thought finally occurring to him that what he had was probably contagious, and he didn’t want Lance to catch it. Lance flipped the television on and chose _The Big Bang Theory_. Keith laughed out loud at this. “Really? You like this show? I guess I shouldd’t be surprised! You are a huge derd.” Lance glared at him playfully and swatted his arm, using that as an excuse to inch closer to his date. How he wanted to cuddle up next to him and fuss over him until he felt all better, but he knew, once again, that Keith would not allow himself to be taken care of if he were open about it. He had to be incognito.

Phase three of his plan was going to be a little bit more difficult than Lance had originally anticipated, Keith was obviously trying to keep his distance so he didn’t get Lance sick, but Lance had other ideas. He shivered overdramatically. “Keithy, I’m kind of cold.”

“Oh, sorry. Mby heater works od add off. Do you wadt a bladket?”

Lance’s heart melted at this, thinking of a poor, sick Keith shivering under every blanket he owned, trying in vain to keep warm through the winter. No wonder the poor guy was sick.

“No,” Lance made grabby motions with his hands, “I want you; come cuddle with me.”

Keith hesitated, thinking of Lance’s health. He would probably never forgive Keith if he got him sick on the first date. He couldn’t risk infecting him, and considered making up some excuse to get Lance out without hurting his feelings or admitting he was sick. Lance cut off his panicked thoughts with a concerned “Or you could get me a blanket if you’re not comfortable cuddling just yet, but in the future cuddling is a necessity for this relationship to work.” Keith laughed at Lance’s bluntness, regretting it as he dissolved into coughs, which he tried to play off as being from choking on spit or something. He retrieved a blanket from his bedroom, ensuring that he hadn’t slept with it or anything, just in case.

He felt himself beginning to nod off, Lance noticed as well, and placed a pillow on his lap and motioned for Keith to lay his head on it. Keith looked skeptical, once again worried about contagion, but Lance saw through his guise of discomfort, and came up with an idea. “You can lay on your side and face the television, and I can play with your hair.”

At Keith’s withering stare Lance knew he had to really be convincing with his next excuse, “I want to try to braid it a bit. I’ve been working on my braiding skills and Pidge won’t let me practice on their hair.” It wasn’t a total lie, Pidge wouldn’t let him braid their hair, yes, but Lance could braid hair perfectly, having grown up with five sisters. This seemed to convince Keith, however, and he carefully laid himself across the couch, head faced away from Lance to avoid contagion as much as possible, and allowed Lance to braid and unbraid pieces of his hair. It felt amazing, and he could feel himself drifting off. Lance felt Keith’s breathing begin to slow and smiled, feeling a sudden rush of affection for the normally bristly male. The smile faded as he felt Keith’s breath quicken again “ _Ngh’KXT_! _Hh’GNXT!_ ”

“Don’t do that, you’ll hurt yourself.”

All Lance got in response was a shaky sigh of relief, so he peeked over Keith’s shoulder to see him fast asleep, a bit of spray beneath his nose. He’d stifled a sneeze while he was half asleep and then drifted off as Lance was talking to him… He was so adorable.

Lance took a tissue from the pack he almost always kept in his pocket and wiped underneath Keith’s mouth and nose, remembering to use hand sanitizer afterwards. Keith would never forgive himself if he were somehow responsible for Lance getting sick, especially after their first date. Covering Keith with the blanket, Lance went on a hunt for a thermometer, delighted to find that Keith actually had one, but not so delighted when he read what the other man’s temperature was—102.4. This cold must have been brewing for quite some time if it got this bad so quickly. Keith hadn’t seemed ill at all when Lance saw him two days prior.

_How could I not have noticed? He’s really good at hiding it apparently…_


End file.
